Juliet Bernadette : comments [A Bug's Life]

When I was a travel agent, I used the phonetic alphabet a lot.
But I discovered that even others in the aviation industry didn't know it:

"American Airlines STAR desk, how can I help?"
"I need you to look at record One Bravo Six Six Sierra Seven."
"I'm not finding that record."
"You're not? I'm looking right at it on my screen: One Bravo Six Six Sierra Seven...."
"Yes, sir, but I don't see a PNR under the number One Bravo Six Six Sierra Seven."
(back and forth for several minutes)
"I'm sorry sir, there is no PNR in my system with the locator One Bee Six Six See Seven."
"See? No! Not See! Ess! Sierra! Like the mountains!"
"Not Cierra, like that car?"
"Arrrrggggg!"

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(I also once devised an almost complete aplhabet of words that did not sound right:
P, like psychology
M, like mnemonic
T, like tsar
G, like gnostic...)

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Yes, it's that *almost* that gets me. I'm still determined to eventually figure out a whole one in order to fullfil Alison Scott's idea of putting together an illustrated Deceptive ABCs for Very Confused Children.

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Yeah; a few of the letters are very difficult. Z, for example, I've never come up with a suitable word for.

Originally, my idea was to use words whose initial sound was similar to a confusable different letter: P as in pthaline. Or did he say "T?"

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For Z, as in "zed"? Wouldn't that be Xylophone? Or is is xerophyte?

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Many years ago, I was very confused by the alphabetic variant that provided "B for mutton" and other such verbal wordplays.

(Ah, it's the Cockney Alphabet.)

I quite like "P for Ming Fleas", it's just wonderfully surreal.

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Arrrg indeed!

I nearly got into a second round of problems with today's call:
"...-wallaby"
"And a "b"? I had a "b"!"

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Those that didn't know it, did they know anything?

(Why do I suspect the answer is 'no'?)

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The above example was the only instance in my experience of a miscommunication caused by someone misinterpreting the standard words. But in all my time working with the commercial aviation industry, it was rare enough that I had cause to remark when someone from an airline would use the right words. Almost every time it was "Apple, Betty, Car, Dog..." or other random words.

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